


wherever you stray, i follow

by allisonattheorpheum



Series: the evermore collection [3]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, i don't know how to skateboard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28677045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allisonattheorpheum/pseuds/allisonattheorpheum
Summary: “i’ll always show up, alex,” willie said. “come on,” he tugged on alex’s hand. “let’s paint the town red.”alex looked up, eyes wide. “wait, i don’t think we should really paint -- ” he trailed off, noticing the smirk on willie’s face. “okay. you’re kidding.” alex swallowed the hesitance lodged in his throat. willie was here, willie had showed up, and willie wanted to spend time with him. the stamps were gone and they could do whatever they wanted. he was okay.(or alex finds a way to stop worrying so much)
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: the evermore collection [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097033
Comments: 19
Kudos: 85





	wherever you stray, i follow

**Author's Note:**

> title and inspiration from "willow" by taylor swift.  
> part of my _evermore_ series.
> 
> thank you to [alexandria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/merceralexs/pseuds/merceralexs) and [lauren](https://lukefromsunsetcurve.tumblr.com/) for being my sounding boards throughout the writing process.

“what are you so excited about?” luke asked. “you’ve been bouncing your knee for twenty minutes. it’s making me nauseous.”

alex put his palms on his knees, stopping the motion. “it hasn’t been twenty minutes,” he said. “and if it’s bothering you that much, you can go to the loft.”

luke scoffed, kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. “nah, i’m staying here. you’re up to something and i’m gonna find out what.”

alex kicked his leg out to the side, smirked when he felt it make contact with luke’s. he kept his eyes trained on the studio doors, waiting for willie’s signal.

“seriously, man,” reggie said from over by the dartboard. “did we win the lottery or something? are we about to get visited by some dude with a giant check?”

alex rolled his eyes. “if you must know, willie’s picking me up.” they’d been on a few dates since, well, the stamps and caleb and the boys almost being jolted into nothingness. alex had taken him to the beach, willie had taken alex to a few more of his favorite museums. things were good, with the band and with willie, but he still wasn’t sure what things _were_ \- he was dead but julie could give him a high-five so was he a zombie? him and willie were going places together and they always had a good time so were they dating?

“that’s all it is?” luke asked, jolting alex out of his thoughts. “you’re all worked up about about willie poofing in here?”

“he’s not poofing in,” alex said. “he’s -- look.” he pointed towards the windows in the studio’s barn doors. a beam of light was shining towards them, moving up and down and over like some approximation of an _a_ for alex. “that’s my sign.” alex stood up, pulled his hoodie on. “see ya later,” he called to luke and reggie, heading towards the doors. he grabbed ahold of the handle, easier now that willie had shown him easier ways to focus his energy, and opened the door. the evening air was cool on his face.

“have him home by midnight, willie!” he heard luke shout as he headed towards the source of the light, hand shading his eyes from the brightness. 

“hey, hot dog.” alex heard willie’s voice before he saw him. just a black hole in the landscape until he turned off the flashlight, willie was waiting on the steps where julie had first told the boys they could stay. “you didn’t miss it.”

alex took the last few steps towards willie, pulled up short and started running his hands along the strap of his pack. “i’m pretty sure i couldn’t have missed it even if i wanted to,” he said. “did you pick the brightest one you could find?”

willie laughed, the sound heading straight towards the butterflies in alex’s stomach. willie’s hair was pulled back into a bun, but a few strands had escaped and hung around his face. “hey,” he said, holding out a hand. “it’s okay, stop fidgeting.”

willie’s hand was warm against his as alex let him pull it away from the strap. he watched their fingers weave together. “just can’t seem to stop worrying that you won’t show up,” he whispered.

“i’ll always show up, alex,” willie said. “come on,” he tugged on alex’s hand. “let’s paint the town red.”

alex looked up, eyes wide. “wait, i don’t think we should really paint -- ” he trailed off, noticing the smirk on willie’s face. “okay. you’re kidding.” alex swallowed the hesitance lodged in his throat. willie was here, willie had showed up, and willie wanted to spend time with him. the stamps were gone and they could do whatever they wanted. he was okay.

alex squeezed willie’s hand, smiled and tucked the rest of his worry aside. he had all the time in the world for racing thoughts and storm clouds over his head; he could spare right now for a cute boy in daisy-patterned socks. “after you, then.”

*

on the other end of willie’s _poof_ was a worn-down building surrounded by no trespassing signs. broken out windows were covered by boards and graffiti was layered over crumbling brick. 

“what is this place?” alex asked. willie’s hand was still wrapped protectively around his.

“my middle school. way past its prime, right?” willie took a few steps towards the fence but alex hung back. their arms were almost parallel to the ground, the distance between their bodies pulling them taut. “what’s wrong?” 

“we can’t go in there, willie,” he said, letting go of willie’s hand and running his fingers through his hair. “it says _no trespassing_ , like, a million times.”

“nobody is going to see us, alex. we’re -- ”

“ghosts, yeah,” he cut willie’s words short. “we’re ghosts and we’re gonna go in there even though it says not to and it’s going to be fine.”

“i know it seems wrong,” willie said. “i know it goes against everything you were taught when you were alive. but, hey, there’s a reason why we haven’t crossed over, right? and just because we’re dead doesn’t mean we can’t, you know, _live_.”

willie started to step through the fence, stopping when it was like there was a perfect him-sized cut-out in the links and he had always been a part of the barrier. “you coming, sticks?” he asked with a wink.

alex groaned. “that’s… no,” he said, shaking his head. “keep working on it.”

willie’s face was illuminated by a couple of lights scattered along the fence, the yellow glow dancing along his cheekbones, his jawline. alex could look at willie for the rest of his time as a maybe-zombie-ghost and be perfectly content with it. instead, he took a step. “right behind you, knee pads.”

willie laughed, careless and loud. it echoed in the night, found a permanent home in alex’s heart.

*

“and this is where i had my first kiss,” willie said, pointing to a spot under a set of stairs. he’d spent the last thirty minutes leading alex around the school, telling him tales of principal visits and back row of class naps. 

“how’d that work out for you?” alex asked. he ignored the way the word _kiss_ sounded when it came from willie, ignored the way he wanted to do nothing more than just that.

“well, it was fast so we wouldn’t get caught,” willie said. “and i bit his lip.” 

alex thought a bitten lip would be the smallest price to pay for kissing willie.

willie poofed out, reappearing on the top of the staircase. his skateboard was with him now, attached to his soul like the instruments were to the band. 

“look out below, pinky!” willie hollered.

alex looked down at his hoodie, rolled his eyes. “that’s not a good one either, wi -- ”

he looked back up, cutting his words short as he watched willie jump onto the railing and sliding down it on his board. his brain instantly went to panic mode ( _he’s going to get hurt, he’s going to break a leg, he’s going to run me over and break_ my _leg, too_ ). he took a deep breath, found the strap across his chest and started running his thumb over it; it was all he could do to keep from closing his eyes and poofing out.

willie made it down the railing, though, still in one piece, and jogged back over to alex. the huge smile on his face faded fast as he saw the worry written all over alex’s. “what’s up?” he asked, voice soft. 

“i just thought you were going to get hurt,” alex said. “which is stupid, i know, because you’re dead and you can’t get any more hurt than that.” he laughed, shook his head. “i guess trespassing didn’t cure my overthinking.”

willie put his hands on alex’s shoulders, shook him back and forth a couple of times. “stop being so hard on yourself,” he said. “you’re here and i’m okay and we’re having fun, right?”

alex nodded. “yeah, of course.” he nodded again, clearing the last of the fog from his mind. “where to next?”

willie looked around, bouncing on his toes. “come on,” he said, holding out his hand. alex took hold of it without a second thought.

*

the school’s gymnasium wasn’t any better off than the rest of it, but willie apparently thought the dingy space was important to see. he pulled alex into the middle of the room and set his board on the scuffed and dirty flooring.

“get on,” he said, letting go of alex’s hand.

alex’s brain short-circuited. “i don’t think that’s a great idea,” he said, his voice an octave higher than normal. 

“just skating, no tricks.” willie crossed his heart with a finger. “promise. you can trust me, alex.”

alex decided before he could change his mind. “...okay,” he said. “but you don’t tell anyone if i fall.”

willie laughed and pumped his fist in the air. he moved so the board was in between them. “okay, so your left foot goes in front,” he said. “right here.” he pointed at a spot on the board with his foot.

alex gulped and lifted his left foot onto the skateboard. with one foot still on solid ground, his confidence wasn’t completely gone. willie told him that his right food would be the one he pushes off with, which wasn’t alex’s favorite idea ever. instead, he brought it onto the board with the left.

“what if i just leave both feet on the board?” he asked, swaying a bit before finding his balance. 

willie chuckled. “the point is actually moving,” he said. “here, i’ll hold onto you, okay?”

he offered his hand to alex, a gesture that had happened a few times throughout the night. that thought filled alex with something like relief; he’d worried and he’d hesitated, but willie hadn’t left.

with willie’s hand warm and solid on his, alex found all of his courage. “so just… push off and start going?”

willie nodded, gave alex a thumbs up with his free hand. “you got it.”

alex lifted his right foot off of the board, set it back on the ground. he leaned forward and pushed off of the floor with his toes. the board started to move, a turtle on its way to get a drink. he kept his right leg extended behind him like a ballerina, too scared to put it back on the board.

“you’re doing it!” willie walked alongside him. “push off again so you keep going.”

alex nodded and brought his right foot back down, used his toes to propel the board forward. he wobbled but held on, the far wall of the room getting steadily (but still slowly) closer. 

“just focus, okay?” willie asked. before alex could answer, willie had let go, leaving alex on his own. 

“dude!” alex exclaimed. “not cool!” his arms were straight out like a tight-rope walker, but he was still standing up. he felt willie’s eyes on him but didn’t dare look back. he knew he looked stupid but, when he really thought about it, he was having something that felt a little bit like fun. he reached back again with his right foot, toes meeting the floor, and then set it down on the back of the board. a turtle could probably pass him but he hadn’t fallen down.

“alex!” he heard willie yell from behind him. “you’re killing it!”

without thinking, alex turned his head, smiling at willie. as soon as he did, he lost his balance, the skateboard sliding out from under him. he stumbled, but didn’t hit the floor.

“you did it, dude,” willie said as he walked towards him. “you were on fire!”

alex groaned. “you mean, i was on fire going at a snail’s pace and then tried to look at you and completely lost it? yeah. it was some kind of fire, alright.”

willie laughed, punched alex’s shoulder playfully. “no, man, it was good. i’m proud of you,” he said. “you know when parents watch their kids play sports and they make sure everyone knows which one is their kid?”

“ _that’s my baby!_ ” alex mocked, flipping the board up with his toe and tucking it under his arm.

“i felt like that when i was watching you,” willie said. “but i would’ve been the guy with a crush yelling ‘that’s my man!’”

alex smiled despite himself. the butterflies from when willie had picked him up found their way back. “your man, huh?” he asked.

willie dropped his head bashfully, tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. “i mean,” he started. “If you want to be.” he looked back up, eyes locking with alex’s, wide with hope.

when alex had appeared in julie’s studio, he never imagined his life as a ghost would have led him to this moment. all of the doubt, the worry, the anxious pacing, it all stopped, waiting to either crash back down on him or lose some of its power. willie was comfort. willie was beaming smiles and dorky nicknames and adventure. willie could be his. all he had to say was…

“yes.” his voice was as steady as it’d been in a long time. “yes, i want to be. i want to be yours. i want you to be mine. i want all of it.”

alex brought his hand to willie’s chin, titled his face up. “thank you for running into me,” he whispered. 

when his lips met willie’s, it was like nothing he had ever known. it was exciting and new. it was home.

\--


End file.
